Welcome to the web site of Mellor Archaeological Trust

Whilst Mellor Archaeological Trust were clearing out the Waterloo Wheel Pit at Mellor Mill we released the water which had been backing up in the tunnels leading from the Corn Mill tail Race and the...

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Fact & Fun Day 2017

A word on the history of Roman Lakes

On the 1st July 1865 railway line from Compstall to Marple and New Mills was opened. Various engineering problems had delayed the construction.

As Victoria’s reign neared its end, the numbers of visitors to Marple increased. In 1884, a newspaper reported that.............

"Marple Station was greatly thronged on Good Friday…between two and three thousand visited the place by ordinary and special train”.

Pubs arranged popular attractions, tea-shops opened and cottagers sold pots of tea Tea Rooms , Roman Lakesat their front doors, farmers opened their fields for picnics. On a Saturday in June 1896, 3000 visitors came from Oldham alone and, according to a newspaper report,more than 20,000 people visited Marple Bridge on Good Friday,1933. The destruction of Mellor Mill had led to the biggest attraction.

Mellor Mill Guided Tours:

The tours take place on Saturday afternoon from 1pm to 4pm, and on Sundays from 10am to 4pm.

Summer Newsletter:

The Summer Newsletter for 2017 is now online click here for the pdf file. A taster..."Mellor Archaeological Trust continues to be busy as we move into the last six months of our “Revealing Oldknow’s Legacy”, Heritage Lottery Funded, project. The next important stages are the landscaping at Mellor Mill and the conservation and consolidation of the remains. This will be followed by the erection of interpretation boards and displays."

About the Trust

The Trust was formed in 2000 following the discovery in 1998 of an Iron Age ditch in the garden of The Old Vicarage next to Mellor Church. Excavations continued to 2009 and have been described as the largest excavation for a generation of a hillfort in North West England "with results as important as those at Beeston Castle". There have been finds from Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Romano-British and Medieval times. In 2007, the Trust extended its activities to cover the whole history of the whole Parish of Mellor. Digs, which are continuing annually, at the Bronze Age burial site of Shaw Cairn on Mellor Moor included finding of nearly 100 beads of an amber necklace in 2008/9. Current work is focused on Mellor Mill, the largest and most impressive cotton mill in the world when it was built in 1790-92. It was burnt out in 1892. The area became woodland, which is now being converted into a small country park showing the remains of the mill and other buildings.

Enjoy reading about the archaeology, history and buildings of Mellor and find out about volunteering, events, publications and other activities.